Thursday, January 11, 2007

Sources: U.S. plans tough moves on Iranians and Syrians in Iraq

Both Prime Minister Maliki and President Talabani of Iraq have made recent visits to visit Iranian President Ahmadinejad

WASHINGTON — U.S. forces will step up their offensive against Iranians and Syrians in Iraq as part of President Bush's new plan for the country, American officials said Wednesday, in a step likely to further inflame Washington's relationship with Tehran.

U.S. officials contend that Iran and Syria have been allowing militants to enter Iraq from their territory, and accuse Tehran of providing arms, money and training to Shiite Muslim militias. In his speech laying out the plan, Bush bluntly warned the two countries that American forces would "disrupt" their activities and said he was sending U.S. warships to the region.

"We will interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria," Bush said. "And we will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq."

Bush administration documents describing the plan say Iran "has been cultivating influence in Iraq through all means at its disposal." The documents describe the aggressive new administration policy as a "key operational shift" for the U.S.

The papers say Syrian actions pose "less of a strategic threat to Iraq than the Iranian actions" but compound the challenges faced by the fledgling Iraqi government.

A tough new U.S. approach to Iran is likely to sharpen frictions with the Shiite-led Iraqi government, which has close and valued ties with its eastern neighbor.

Despite growing U.S. complaints about Syrian and Iranian meddling, encounters between American forces and nationals of the two countries have been rare.

One notable exception came last month, when U.S. troops in Baghdad, in a raid, arrested Iranians they believed were running guns and planning sectarian attacks. The Iraqi government ordered the two men out of the country nine days later; many Iraqis were furious, complaining that the arrests were unjustified. Some Iraqi officials contended that the arrests were intended as a signal that Iraq should not build a relationship with Iran without U.S. permission.

White House papers on Bush's new plan for Iraq say that, in conjunction with the tough new stance toward Iran and Syria, the U.S. is moving military equipment into the Persian Gulf. Pentagon officials said this week that they were ordering a second aircraft carrier battle group, including ships and warplanes, to the gulf, as a message to Iran.